The Waiting Game

Just thought I'd put up a little update on a few things on the other side of this screen. As most of you know I am trying to go to Granada, Spain for a year to study abroad. The phrasing "trying to" has a purpose as I will explain.

If you have never applied for a visa to go to another country for a long time here are a few hints: start the process waaaaaay earlier than you think you should AND take care of business as soon as possible.
For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to attempt this process all by myself and it ended up causing much stress, sleepless nights, and worried days. And then I actually got everything lined up perfectly and NOTHING went right. Sent documents to Raleigh for Authentication and one of them was denied which meant I had to drive to Raleigh before heading to Washington DC to apply IN PERSON. Yep, I had to go to the Spanish Embassy and hand them my paperwork and leave them my passport.

Let me back up and share with you a few of the requirements with you:

-you must show up and turn in application in person
-have letters from the university in spain you will be studying with
-Applications for this type of visa will neither be accepted more than three months in advance nor less than one month before the departure date. (straight from website, can't make this up)
-once you turn in your application you cannot call to check the status of your visa. you just simply wait for it to come
-and lots and lots of other crazy important things

It was nuts. Thankfully Leslie Sloan went with me to Raleigh/DC and kept me somewhat sane during the whole process. Not sure what I would have done without her there.

When I finally got to DC I had no idea what to expect and when I handed in the application I apparently didn't have the right payment form and had to go get cash from an ATM.
Walked out of the Embassy feeling a lot lighter and then we drove back to Asheville. All seemed to be going well until the next day when the Consulate called to tell me I was missing a letter from a school IN Spain and I had a week to get it. Two weeks later I overnighted that letter to the Consulate.
I have no idea if all of it was received or where m paperwork is in the process. I am not allowed to call and check on the status of all of my documentation.

So now it has become a waiting game. I honestly have no idea when I will get my visa back. All I have been able to do is carry on with things as normal. I am moving out of my apartment and am already half moved out. I am not enrolled in classes at UNCA. So all I can do is wait, pray, wait, trust, and wait some more.

Right now I am working on really trying to rest and trust that things will work out in the end. I have to be honest, this is very very challenging. My plan is to leave Asheville August 15 head to Memphis to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins for 4 days before heading to Texas to see my family for 1 week before flying to Atlanta where I will fly to Madrid on August 27/28th. I won't return to the USA until sometime in July of 2012. Yeah, that's a long time.

The date is fast approaching and I am very excited and nervous and curious as to what the next year of my life will look like. I feel harshly unprepared but I think that once I have that passport with my Visa stamped inside I might just  pass out from sheer joy and relief and not even care that I am unprepared. Seriously, you might hear me shouting with joy around the world on that day.

So far this summer has been great. I have a part time job hostessing about 25 hours a week, I have done a fair amount of babysitting and have also gotten to do some fun things with friends. There has also been lots of alone time and I am trying to use that to my advantage but even that has been a challenge. I have also dogsat a lot for people. About 1 month total out of the summer.

So there you go. Another scatter brained update on my life right now..